I just got my car back about 200 miles ago, i had the engine rebuilt, aand the stage 1 Hahn kit put on my car. We think we have everything figured out besides a small gas leak from my FP gauge, ,and then suddenly today while driving my car starts to studder. It happens about once every 5-10 minutes, and doesn't seem to care what i'm doing, whether it be accelerating (I haven't boosted my car yet , coasting, cruising, or idling. When it happens, my car's lights flicker and it jolts for a split second. Probably less than half a second total time. A few times it's done it at idle, and when it does, it seems like my car struggles to stay running for about 5 seconds, plus my fuel pump starts whining incredibly loud. I traced all the wiring to the pump and it looks good. I don't know what it can be, it certainly didn't do this before i had my engine rebuilt, and only started doing it today (that'd be around 130-140 miles). Anyone else had that problem? I have a 97, and my buddy has a 95, do you think we could possibly trade ECU's and see if his will smooth out the problem. Might be able to talk him into it. I don't know waht changes were made from 95-97 through the ECUs. I really hope it's not an ECU, i can't afford something like that. I think it's nothing more than a short somewhere. Any suggestions?

Jon

1997 Eclipse RS | 2001 Lexus IS300
12.671 @ 111.660 1.586 60' 5/28/04

www.haiokuracing.com

Well, start with the simple stuff, plugs and wires. Are you popping a CEL code? I know that you can't just key dance it out, but if you have a check engine light, then it might be a coil pack or something. The ECUs don't usually go bad unless they are screwed around with. Are you sure that it is electrical, and not fuel related?
-=B-=

Dude, Boeing called. They want their wing back.

Dark0ne95: There is a butthole on that girl that his going to feel the wrath of 23 yeras of worldwide hate.
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Yep, pull wires & plugs... check 4 oil in Cylinder #4.

- J

- J

Worked on the problem today. I have a gas leak right at the FPR, since Hahn didn't send us hte correct fittings, we have the fuel pressure gauge mounted almost directly to the FPR. One of those is shooting a stream of gas at my firewall (yay!). I bought another tube of teflon paste and have to take it apart tomorrow to fix it. Today, my accessory belt fell off, that might not have had anything to do with it. My car has balanced out today and stopped doing what it was doing, HOWEVER, now it likes to die every now and then at stop. At idle, with the hood up, my engine hesitates and almost dies when the fan comes on, but recovers. Why when the fan comes on?!?! Sounds electircal to me, but all the fan connections are secure. I turned my AC compressor on, and it worked fine, made a slight squeal, but nothing that you could hear from the interior. As soon as i turned it off (at idle), my car sputtered adn couldn't recover itself, died.

On the plugs and wires: I have Magnecore 8.5mm wires and brand new spark plugs, and they look great. My MSD coil pack hasn't came in yet, but i cleaned my coil pack well when i was rebuilding the engine, sanded the terminals, because 4 was a little rusty. don't know why.

I'm almost certain this is an electrical problem. I did a few things to fix the studder, and since then, the studder part hasn't came back. I unwired my subwoofers and (if anybody's familiar with the Hahn fuel kit) wired both of the under-the-backseat grounds to the same screw. I unscrewed it and wired them both on differnet screws to see if it was the fuel pump cutting out, causing my car to lose fuel pressure? Looks like it's doin well. I'm sorry I can't respond as things happen, for some reason my computer won't let me post, logon, or do anything but look and search. I wonder if it's in the security software. Have to go to a friends house to update.

New bottom line is that it chokes at idle, when a fan comes on or a/c is turned on.

I'm still not boosting, my engine now has 250 miles on it. The need to boost is still twitching in my fingers, but so far i've done a good job of holding back. I think the most i've boosted so far is 1psi, and it was for a split second. Congratulate me

Jon

1997 Eclipse RS | 2001 Lexus IS300
12.671 @ 111.660 1.586 60' 5/28/04

www.haiokuracing.com

Where do you set your static (idle) fuel pressure at? It should be around 45 psi. If it's too high, you'll a little rich at idle, which will cause the car to hesitate during acceleration; and it'll want to cut off if it's idling too rich. I don't believe it's anything electrical. Also, double-check to make sure there's not any vacuum leak somewhere (look around the EGR or intake manifold), which will also cause the car to idle rough. These are just some ideas.

___________
Kon C

"Sometimes, a man has to do what a man has to do."

My idle pressure varies between 55-60, closer to 60. That's where the guy set it that did the engine build. One of my friends mentioned it but I was afraid that if set it at 45, the leak might lower it too much. The strangest thing is that the idle death happens when my fan comes on. Does the ECU make adjustments when the fan comes on that might cause it to run rich for a second.

Jon

1997 Eclipse RS | 2001 Lexus IS300
12.671 @ 111.660 1.586 60' 5/28/04

www.haiokuracing.com

Sorry, i have to add more info. My idle is fine, it's not rough, it's very smooth. It's just when the fan turns on. My fuel pump makes loud erratic noises during starts, and sometimes takes awhile. I think there might be a short somewhere still, but i've checked my fuel pump and there's no metal-on-metal or anything. Is that 16gauge wire Hahn supplies big enough for that fuel pump? I'm beginning to think it's either that or my sub cable. I guess tomorrow i'll disconnect my amp wire altogether, adjust my fuel pressure and give it another day.

I drove it again tongiht, and more studdering. I'm afraid that this could damage my engine, since sometimes during a studder i'll hear the fuel pump get loud for a split second. Could it be damaging my brand new engine if it's not getting enough fuel?

Jon

1997 Eclipse RS | 2001 Lexus IS300
12.671 @ 111.660 1.586 60' 5/28/04

www.haiokuracing.com

I would go to Autozone and have them check your charging system. If your battery and/or alternator is shitting the bed, then the extra current draw from the fan would cause problems. Also, the ECU does turn the idle up a little bit when it sees a draw on the electrical system. Headlights can even up the idle by 50-100 RPM or so.
-=B-=

Dude, Boeing called. They want their wing back.

Dark0ne95: There is a butthole on that girl that his going to feel the wrath of 23 yeras of worldwide hate.
Me: Can I put that in my sig?
Dark0ne95: GO right fucking ahead.

Ahh, disconnected the amp cable today from the battery and my car runs smoother than a baby's arse. That's not natural. Wonder what i can do.

Jon

1997 Eclipse RS | 2001 Lexus IS300
12.671 @ 111.660 1.586 60' 5/28/04

www.haiokuracing.com

It's beginning to sound like an electrical (like you said). There're some possibilities:

1. Faulty charging system. Either the battery is low, and it's not recharging fully, or the alternator is not doing the charging to its full capacity. If that's the case, the low voltage (battery light) would probably come on. Check to see that the battery + or - cable is tight. Check the accessory belt to see that it's not slipping or something. You might want to take the car somewhere to have the battery tested first.

2. Since the car idles real rough or cuts off, only when the fan is turned on, that sounds like the additional current draw is affecting, either power to the ecu or to the fuel pump. The fuel pump does require a minimal voltage value to be efficient. I'm not exactly sure how much off the top of my head. Again, these are some more things to check out. Good luck!

___________
Kon C

"Sometimes, a man has to do what a man has to do."

Thanks a lot for your help, i'll continue to mess with it. I'll go down today to a place to see if it's holding a charge, i got leary about it baout a year and a half ago, when i took my car to my mechanic to have the alternator tested since my car wasn't running well, and he told me it had to be replaced, that it wasn't making a draw. That was 40,000 miles ago, and it's still charging. Oh well, i'll get it tested anyway.

Thanks again for your time.

Jon

1997 Eclipse RS | 2001 Lexus IS300
12.671 @ 111.660 1.586 60' 5/28/04

www.haiokuracing.com

Just had it tested, battery tested at 13.9? volts and the alternator tested at 69 Amps. I think that's close to normal, isn't it?

Jon

1997 Eclipse RS | 2001 Lexus IS300
12.671 @ 111.660 1.586 60' 5/28/04

www.haiokuracing.com

I don't know what normal is for our cars, but that sounds pretty good for any car...to me.


95 Eclipse RS : 5 speed
Gude cams : test pipe : CAI : Dual air horns : Kenwood KDC 5000 : AutoCommand remote start
incomming - lower strut bars : AFX UDP

95 Eclipse RS : 5 speed
14.76 @ 94.72mph
Jeep TB writeup - http://www.dimensia.com:81/jimbo/JeepTBfor2gnt.html

HiOnPsi, did you ever find the cure for this? Just before I pulled my 420a head, I had the typcial studdering problem. Afterward, I had the problem of the engine cutting out for about a half second then comming right back. The tach dies and the dash lights come on. Sometimes the engine dies completely. Every time it happens I hear a relay click under the hood.

Thanks, Max

95 Avenger (Eclipse with different body)
420a, 5 speed, Custom ram air

check your air intake sensor and monitor your fuel pressure.

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For their tomorrow,
We gave our today."
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Check your ASD and Fuel Pump relays, i was having a similiar problem till i hard wired my fuel pump and changed the ASD relay